Tying clip for metal lath



June 12, 1934.

R. E. MARTIN 1,962,452

TYING CLIP FOR METAL LATH Filed April 22, 1931 M- Maize/z] W PatentedJune 12, 1934 UNETED STATES PATENT or ies 8 Claims.

This invention relates to metal lath, and more especially to a tyingclip whereby metal lath may be secured quickly and permanently to itssupporting structure.

A more detailed object is the provision of a tying clip for metal lathof such a nature that it is mounted in operative position simply bythrusting an end of the clip through the lath at a point adjacent one ofthe supporting bars for the lath and pressing the outer end of the clipfirmly against the outer face of the lath, whereupon the clip willautomatically snap to locking position wherein the lath is securely andpermanently attached to the support.

The invention possesses other objects and advantageous features, some ofwhich, with those enumerated, will be setforth in the followingdescription of the inventions particular embodiment which is illustratedin the drawing accompanying and forming a part of the specification.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a section of metal lath, a portion ofthe support therefor, and a tying clip incorporating the principles ofmy invention, in operative position, holding the lath to the support.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the tying clip in operative position. Thisview may be considered as a sectional view taken upon the line 2--2 ofFig. 1, with the direction of view as indicated.

Fig. 3 is another side elevation, but showing the clip detached from thelath and support.

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of the clip, the directon of view beingindicated by the arrow 4 of 5 Fig. 3.

Fig.5 is a top plan view of the clip, the direction of view beingindicated by the arrow 5 of Fig. 3.

Metal lath is usually employed as a foundation for plastering and thelike, by securing the lath to a series of spaced parallel supportingmembers by means of loops of wires, each of which encircles one of thesupporting members, and one or more of the sections of the meshworkdefining the metal lath. It is a more or less difficult and timeconsuming task to engage these wire loops so as to properly secure thelath to the supports, inasmuch as it is necessary to bend the end of apiece of wire to substantially U-shaped configuration, thrustone leg ofthe U through the lath adjacent one side of the support to which it isto be secured, and to so manipulate the remainder of the wire that thatleg passes around the supporting member. The wire is then pulled backthrough the lath, so that to that plane, it being intended that thelaththe leg which has passed around the support will be pulled backthrough the meshwork, whereupon the two ends of the U-shaped wire aretwisted together by means of a pair of pliers or the like, so as totighten the lath against the sup port. Not only does this require arelatively large amount of time, but it also yields a faultyconstruction, inasmuch as the twisted ends of the loop project for amaterial distance beyond the outer surface of the lath. This must bepounded over so as to lie flat against the surface of the lath,otherwise it is apt to project through the outer surface of the ultimateplastering, or to be disposed at such a short distance under the surfaceof the plastering that rust spots from the wire will appear in the outersurface of the plaster. Moreover, when the plasterer is applyingplaster, his trowel is apt to become caught on these projecting, twistedends, causing a large amount of inconvenience, and loss of time inapplying the plaster. Hence, in most communities it has become thepractice for the building inspector to pay particular attention to themanner in which the metal lath is secured, and to require that all thetwisted ends of the fastening loops be pounded down closely against thesurface of the lath. Frequently the wire becomes broken when the endsare pounded over, because of the fact that it is bent to such. an acuteangle, especially after the metal of the wire has become fatigued byhaving its ends twisted together. When this occurs, it is necessary toremove the broken wire and to make another attempt to fasten theparticular portion of the lath to the support by another loop.

The clip of the present invention has been designed in such a mannerthat it is capable of securely and permanently attaching the lath to thesupports in such a manner that the above mentioned disadvantages of theold method of attachment are overcome, in spite of the fact that theclip may be fastened in operative position almost instantaneously, andwhen so mounted leaves no projecting portions apt to interfere with themanipulation of the plasterers trowel, or to cause rust spots in theultimate plastered wall.

Fig. 1 shows a small portionof metal lath 6 secured to a supportingmember 7 by means of a tie clip 8 embodying the principles of thepresent invention. The usual supporting member 7 is a channel ironarranged with its Web 9 in a plane perpendicular to that of the ultimatewall, and with its outer flange 11 parallel ing shall be secured againstthe outer face of the flange 11.

The clip 8 comprises a shank 12 and inner and outer arms 13 and 14,respectively, extending from the ends of the shank 12 to substantiallythe same side thereof. The inner arm 13 is adapted to extend across andengage the inner face of the inner flange 16 of the channel'l, whereasthe outer arm 14 is adapted to engage the outer face of the lath 6, withthe shank 12 extending through the rneshwork of the lath and across theface of the web 9 of the channel 7. The clip 8 is formed of a length ofresilient wire, such as spring steel wire, doubled back upon itselfmidway between its ends, the reverse bend being indicated at 17. Hence,the shank 12 and the inner arm 13 both are double, inasmuch as bothportions of the wire extending from the reverse bend 17 lie closelyadjacent each other throughout the length of these portions of the clip.

The inner arm 13 has its extreme end 18 bent outwards, i. e., the finger18 thus formed extends toward the outer surface of the ultimate wallwhen the clip 8 is in operation position, as indicated upon Figs. 1 and2. From the base of the retaining finger 18 to the inner end of theshank 12 the inner arm 13 corresponds substantially in length to thewidth of the inner flange 16 of the channel 7. The shank 12 correspondssubstantially in length to the width of the web 9, plus the thickness ofthe lathing 6, thus permitting the shank 12 to extend across the web 9and through the lath 6, with the inner arm 13 engaging the inner face ofthe flange 16.

At the outer end of the shank 12 the two sections of the wire divergesubstantially in opposite directions, although instead of lying in astraight line, I prefer that these sections 21 and 22 of the wire extendslightly forward, as well as laterally from the upper end of the shank,as clearly illustrated upon Fig. 5. Moreover, each of these sections 21and 22 is disposed at an acute angle with the shank 12, so that the ends23 and 24 of the sections 21 and 22 are closer to the plane of the innerarm 13 than the outer end of the shank 12. The reason for this is thatwhen the clip is pressed home the ends 23 and 24 will come intoengagement with the outer face of the lathing 6 before the portion ofthe outer arm 14 to which the shank 12 is directly connected, whereuponcontinued movement of the clip inwards, i. e., toward the inner flange16 of the supporting channel 7, will cause the sections 21 and 22 of theouter arm 14 to be bent, thereby developing a resilient force whichcauses the shank 12 to be pulled outwards, pressing the inner arm 13against the flange 16 when the clip is finally disposed in holdingposition.

At the outer ends 23 and 24 of the sections 21 and 22 the wire is againreversely bent, thus presenting sections 26 and 27 which extendangularly toward each other and forward so as to position their endstogether, these ends being bent inwards to define a second retainingfinger 28 which extends toward the inner retaining finger 18. Thesections 21, 22, 26 and 27 define the outer arm 14, and these sectionsall lie substantially in a common plane. This plane is disposed at anacute angle with the shank 12, with the result that the portion of thearm 14 which first engages the outer surface of the lath 6 when the clipis being pressed home, is that from which the retaining finger 28extends, this being the portion of the arm 14 which is spaced forward atthe greatest distance from the shank 12. Hence, when the arm 14 ispressed flat against the outer surface of the lath 6, a leverage isdeveloped wherein this portion of the arm 14 serves as a fulcrum aboutwhich the remainder of the clip moves, pressing the inner end of theshank 12 toward and against the web 9, thus causing the inner retainingfinger 18 to snap over the opposite edge of its associated flange 16, asclearly shown upon Fig. 2.

In other words, the acute angle between the plane of the outer arm 14and the shank 12 causes the inner end of the shank 12 to be pressedagainst the web 9 of the channel 7; and the acute angle of each of thesections 21 and 22 with the shank 12 causes the shank 12 to be pulledoutwards, pressing the inner arm 13 against the inner flange 16.

The clip is mounted in operative position simply by thrusting the innerarm 13 and the shank 12 through one of the spaces 31 in the lath 6, thespace selected being closely adjacent the web 9 of the channel 7. As theclip is pressed inwards, the end of the inner retaining finger 18 willslide across the web 9 until it passes the corner at the outer surfaceof the lath 6, after which the leverage hereinabove mentioned will bedeveloped, wherein this portion of the arm 14 operates as a fulcrumabout which the remainder of the clip pivots, moving the inner end ofthe shank 12 toward the web 9 of the channel 7. This continues until theinner retaining finger 18 snaps over the distal edge of the inner flange16, with the result that this finger serves to prevent the clip fromworking loose by vibration after it has once been mounted in operativeposition.

Just prior to the time at which the clip 8 is moved to its inner extremeof movement, the outer ends 23 of the sections 21 and 22 will engage theouter surface of the lath 6, with the result that the remainder of theinner movement of the clip will produce flexure of the outer arm 14, theresult of which is to impose tension upon the shank 12, pulling theinner arm 13 outwards against the flange 16 and pressing the lath 6firmly against the outer flange 11. This tension also serves to retainthe inner retaining finger 18 against inadvertent displacement.

It is to be understood that the details of the invention as hereindisclosed, are subject to alteration within the spirit or scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. A clip for tying metal lath to a support, comprising a shank adaptedto extend through said lath and across a side face of said support, aninner arm extending angularly from said shank and adapted to engage theinner face of said support, and an outer arm extending laterally fromopposite sides of the shank adapted to engage the outer face of saidlath.

2. A clip for tying metal lath to a support, comprising a shank adaptedto extend through said lath and across a side face of said support, aninner arm extending angularly from said shank and adapted to engage theinner face of said we a support, and an outer arm extending laterallyfrom opposite sides of the shank adapted to engage the outer face ofsaid lath, said outer arm lying substantially in a plane disposed at anacute angle with said shank on the same side thereof as that to whichsaid inner arm extends.

3. A clip for tying metal lath to a support, comprising a length ofresilient wire bent to define a shank and inner and outer arms extendingin substantially the same direction from said shank, the outer armextending laterally from opposite sides of the shank, said inner armbeing adapted to engage the inner face of said support and said outerarm being adapted to engage the outer face of said lath with said shankextending through the lath and said outer arm lying substantially in aplan disposed at an acute angle with said shank, whereby the inner endof said shank is pressed toward said support when said outer arm liesflat against said lath.

4. A clip for tying metal lath to a support, comprising a length ofresilient wire bent to define a shank and inner and outer arms extendingin substantially the same direction from said shank, the outer armextending laterally from opposite sides of the shank, and a fingerextending inwards from the end of said outer arm, said inner arm beingadapted to engage the inner face of said support and said outer armbeing adapted to engage the outer face of said lath with said shankextending through the lath and said outer arm lying substantially in aplane disposed at an acute angle with said shank, whereby the inner endof said shank is pressed toward said support when said outer arm liesflat against said lath.

5. A clip for tying metal lath to a support, comprising a length ofresilient wire bent to define a shank and inner and outer arms extendingin substantially the same direction from said shank, and fingersextending substantially to ward each other from the ends of said arms,said inner arm being adapted to engage the inner face of said supportand said outer arm being adapted to engage the outer face of said lathwith said shank extending through the lath and said outer arm lyingsubstantially in a plane disposed at an acute angle with said shank,whereby the inner end of said shank is pressed toward said support whensaid outer arm lies flat against said lath.

6. A clip for tying metal lath to a support, comprising a length ofresilient wire bent to define a shank and inner and outer arms extendingin substantially the same direction from said shank, said inner armbeing adapted to engage the inner face of said support and said outerarm being adapted to engage the outer face of said lath with said shankextending through the lath and said outer arm comprising a pair ofbranches extending laterally to opposite sides of said shank and bentback at acute angles to position the ends of said branches together andspaced in front of said shank, both of said branches being substantiallyin a common plane disposed at an acute angle with said shank, wherebythe inner end of said shank is pressed toward said support when saidouter arm lies fiat against said lath.

7. A clip for tying metal lath to a support, comprising a length ofresilient wire bent to define a shank and inner and outer arms extendingin substantially the same direction from said shank, said inner armbeing adapted to engage the inner face of said support and said outerarm being adapted to engage the outer face of said lath with said shankextending through the lath and said outer arm comprising a pair ofbranches extending laterally to opposite sides of said shank and bentback at acute angles to position the ends of said branches together andspaced in front of said shank, both of said branches being substantiallyin a common plane disposed at an acute angle with said shank, wherebythe inner end of said shank is pressed toward said support when saidouter arm lies flat against said lath, and each of said branches beingdeflected slightly inwards from said plane to an acute angle with saidshank, whereby said inner arm is pulled outwards against the inner faceof said support when said outer arm lies flat against said lath.

8. A clip for tying metal lath to a support, comprising a length ofresilient wire doubled back upon itself midway between its ends topresent a double shank, the inner end of said shank being bent forwardto form an inner arm and the end of said arm being bent outward to forma retaining finger, said wire extending laterally from the outer end ofsaid shank on opposite sides thereof and at an acute angle with theshank and then angularly forward and toward each other defining an outerarm lying substantially in a plane disposed at an acute angle with saidshank, and the ends of said wire being bent to substantial parallelismwith said shank to form a second retaining finger extending toward saidfirst mentioned finger.

RALPH E. MARTIN.

